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Queen 👑.

Drop some nicknames for her too!

A portrait of Shivaji I, the founder of the Maratha Empire, by an unknown painter, 1680-1687, India. British Museum Shivaji I (c. 1630–1680) was the founder of the Maratha Kingdom and a ruler of the Bhonsle dynasty. He inherited a jagir from his father, a Bijapur retainer, and gradually established an independent realm, being crowned Chhatrapati in 1674 at Raigad Fort. Shivaji alternated between conflict and cooperation with major powers, including the Mughal Empire, initially offering service to Aurangzeb, later becoming a Mughal vassal after defeat, and briefly campaigning on the empire’s behalf before reasserting his sovereignty. His rule was marked by military expansion, fort-building, the creation of a Maratha navy, and an administration inclusive of different castes, religions, Muslims, and Europeans. Shivaji’s image was later revived and reshaped by social reformers and Indian nationalists, and in modern times has also been appropriated by Hindutva movements.

#india #indian history #indian art #indian culture #maratha #maratha empire #mughal empire #hindu #hinduism #hinduart #islamic

Chaava

“Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj ko sher kaha jata hai, aur sher ke bacche ko, Chaava”

╰┈➤ ❝ [Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is known as a lion, and a lion’s cub, Chaava.] ❞

—————————————

Words will forever fall short of what I saw on screen today.

All Indians, every single living breathing Bharatiya, should be proud, grateful and fucking relish in the fact that we took birth in the same country, same nation that such glorious— brave hearted people fought for.

I repeat again, the things the Marathas have done for our country, our dharma will never ever be explicable in just words. The sheer torture that we saw in screen while watching Chaava was heart breaking. I did not stop crying during the last 30 minutes of the movie, and the worst part is that’s not even half of what truly went down.

Aurangzeb was worse than disgusting, that dumb FRICKING— *deep breaths ppl*, He deserved worse than he got, that’s all I say.

Everybody should watch this movie, let’s give some much deserved respect to Sambhaji Maharaj, Shivaji Maharaj, Jijabai, Saibai, Yesubai, and ALL OF THE PEOPLE THAT FOUGHT WITH THEM.

Jai Bhavani, Jai Shivaji. Har Har Mahadev.

Bharat Mata ki Jai.

The movie was a 5/5, btw.

Sambhaji looked at the Taj Mahal in astonishment.

'Abasaheb! We too must build something like this!'

His father smiled. ‘Bal Raje, you are still very young but try to understand this:

Every person who ascends the throne tries to build things to leave a legacy.

They are desperate for a place in history.

But a true king? He leads a life such that he doesn't have to resort to building things for people to remember him by."

His life, character, and principles are his real legacy.

| Shriman Yogi (English version), Ranjit Desai

Kanhoji Angre: the 18th-Century Maratha Admiral, Pseudo-Pirate, and All-Around Badass

So this post got more notes than I expected it to, so I figure I may as well follow through on my promise to make a post about him! You want to know about the aforementioned badass 18th-century Maratha navy admiral and pseudo-pirate who repeatedly fended off Western invasion in India? Then you shall. I wrote a paper about this guy, so here we go.

Let me introduce you to Kanhoji Angre. Information is scant on his early life and career—sources tend to disagree about his true origins and we don’t know a lot about his family status, but modern historians tend to trace his lineage to Tukoji Angre, his father, who distinguished himself in the early Maratha navy. We know Kanhoji was descended from a long line of Maratha mariners, which meant he fought in a number of naval raids and became acquainted with naval tactics as he grew up. As an adult, he began hiring out his own fleet to the Maratha navy itself, which, at the time, consisted only of numerous small ships and sought Angre’s heavier armament, which would become essentially the centerpiece of the naval force. In a sense he single-handedly built the Maratha navy into quite a formidable force, becoming Sarkhel, or admiral in 1698, and establishing numerous insurmountable forts along the coast.

Of course, the turn of the 18th century also coincided with growing European colonial intentions in India, and Angre’s presence is well-documented in East India Company records as a nuisance, a pirate, and a warlord in different capacities. To the English, he was a formidable pirate, a scourge to European ships on the west coast of the Indian subcontinent, and a menace to the Company, who suffered significant losses at his hand. Their interactions would eventually escalate into full-on military altercations, and the Company would go as far as to seek allyship with the Portuguese and the Viceroy of Goa, but Angre would remain undefeated throughout his lifetime, which consisted of many other interactions with various Western powers. He was arguably the most powerful maritime figure on the Indian coast by the time he died, but the European primary sources tend to play that down as far as they can for obvious reasons.

But I know you’re wondering—was he, then, a pirate? Well, it depends on who you ask. While Kanhoji Angre did, in certain ways, engage in actions that could be considered piracy from an English perspective, he still operated by a clear code of conduct. One account from 1716 tells of an interaction during which Angre detained an East India Company ship to determine whether they had a pass from the governor of Bombay, with whom he was bound to a nonaggression agreement, but otherwise did them no harm when he discovered they did. On the other hand, that same account quickly makes sure to mention how Angre would pursue vessels from Madras and Calcutta, the governments of which he had no agreements with. In the words of Patricia Risso in her excellent article about the topic, Angre “did not share the English legal definition of maritime violence,” which led to the inevitable branding of him as a pirate by the British, despite the fact that he did operate legally in accordance with those with whom he had such legal agreements. Whether this makes him a pirate or not is ultimately a matter of perspective, but in my humble opinion it certainly does not make him less cool.

Regardless of his status as a pirate or a military leader, Kanhoji Angre is a fascinating, highly overlooked, and pretty damn awesome figure in maritime history, and it’s a shame we don’t have more information on him. If you’re interested in more of the primary source material, I’d recommend checking out Clement Downing’s A Compendious History of the Indian Wars: With an Account of the Rise, Progress, Strength, and Forces of Angria the Pyrate, published in 1737 (free on Google Books!), for one such English perspective, which is the source I based my initial paper on. This is mostly my excuse to infodump about a guy I think history Tumblr would love, and who stands to be appreciated more for being an interesting dude and an all-around badass.